India is a country on the go; at any given moment in time, there is much happening in the fields of politics and governance, of finance, of development; there is constant churning in society, considerable activity in sports and in the arts... It's almost too much to keep track of. And hence, this effort: a real-time, constantly updated look at the events that matter.

9.30 pm: CBI has asked sacked CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi to appear before it on Monday to clarify some new issues which surfaced during the visit of the agency's officials to London in connection with Queen's Baton Relay scam. More

9.00 pm: The Obama administration unveiled a new warning system to alert Americans about specific terrorism threats, formally pushing the much-ridiculed color-coded warnings into the trash bin. More on this story

8.45 pm: The Bombay High Court adjourned the hearing on an appeal filed by alleged money launderer and tax evader Hasan Ali Khan till April 29. More

8.15 pm: Congress president Sonia Gandhi reiterated her support to Gandhian Anna Hazare's demand for a strong Lokpal Bill and said she doesn't 'support nor encourage the politics of smear campaign' against civil rights activists. More

7.40 pm: A new special CBI court heard afresh the closing arguments by prosecution and defence lawyers in a sensational Nithari killing case. More

7.30 pm: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by advocate Asok Pande and social activist Nutan Thakur challenging the resolution issued by the government to constitute a Joint Committee on the Lokpal Bill. More

7:15 pm: For the third consecutive time in less than a week, former head of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi failed to appear before the CBI for questioning over alleged irregularities. Read more

7:00 pm: The Supreme Court held that diktats by 'khap panchayats' (caste councils) -- aimed at coercing or committing atrocities on young boys and girls who wish to marry inter-caste/religion -- were wholly illegal and should be ruthlessly stamped out. More

6:55 pm: After Anna Hazare's satyagraha, now its Baba Ramdev's turn to take on corruption in India. "The satyagraha will start from June four," he said. More on this story

6:45 pm: More cricket: Here is the team picked by Sri Lanka for the upcoming tour of England (remember, the tour for which it has summoned its players back, despite the BCCI's 'request'?): Dilshan, Paranavitana, Thirimanne, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Samaraweera, Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Ajantha Mendis, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.

Quick -- what is the most glaring omission in that list? The first ten people to say 'Lasith Malinga' get autographed photos of the Lankan Slinga (The photographs will be Malinga's, the autographs will be ours). No, but seriously -- Mumbai Indians, currently ambling on against neighbors Pune, will likely pop the champagne after the game. Malinga has made the difference to the side's bowling strength, repeatedly striking to put the opposition under pressure. Losing him would have been a big blow; getting to retain him, since he is not wanted by Sri Lanka just now, is equally cause for champagne-cork-popping.

6:30 pm: Earlier in the day -- at 3.40 pm, to be exact -- we had posted about Chris Gayle being available for Vijay Mallya's RCB, after the West Indies board gave the no-objection certificate. Turns out now that the WICB had no choice in the matter. Cricinfo reports

"Chris Gayle's choice of the IPL over country has angered the West Indies Cricket Board, which said it granted Gayle a no-objection certificate only after he had made himself unavailable for national selection and flown to India. The IPL clashes directly with Pakistan's Test and ODI tour of the West Indies. Gayle will take no part in either series, having joined Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Dirk Nannes.

The WICB also revealed that Gayle was in the midst of a rehabilitation program after a side strain that precluded his selection from the first two matches against Pakistan. Gayle's flight to India has cut across the middle of his rehab."

6:20 pm: Pink balls or orange ones? That's the choice confronting the International Cricket Council just now. Here's why

6:10 pm: The Y! newsroom is chuckling over this one: A Congress MLA was arrested. Protests ensued. So now 75 more people have been arrested. Duh!

5:50 pm: Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) has crossed the million followers mark on Twitter -- in less than a year since he first went online. That's a heck of a strike rate -- but then again, the name is a 'follower' magnet, no? Hell, even a bloke who got in first and snuck out the handle @sachintendulkar has 2 lakh-plus followers.

5:40 pm: The mud-slinging on the Lokpal Bill issue continues with Amar Singh hitting out at Lokpal bill drafting committee co-chairman Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan for declaring that they had no contacts with him. More on this story

5:37 pm: The Congress party in Punjab wants to know how much Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family have been spending on foreign trips, personal security cover, et cetera. It filed an RTI request. The request was rejected. Now the party wants a white paper providing the details. What next? Oh, we know -- request denied. And so the day goes on... 

5:30 pm: Color us cynical, but our first reaction on reading this news -- that the government plans to post 10 of its officials in tax haven nations to gather information about illicit deposits and such -- is to wonder: How much is a posting to, say, Switzerland worth? Anyway. Here's the story

5:16 pm: There has been a lot of buzz about the royal wedding: From celebs like David and Victoria Beckham to politicians like David Cameron, here's a brief look at guests attending the April 29 royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey. Yahoo! India Lifestyle has the story

5:05 pm: Now for some entertainment news: Shatrughan Sinha and his daughter, Sonakshi Sinha have been chosen for this year's Dada Saheb Academy award for their contribution to cinema.

Shatrughan Sinha will be bestowed with Dada Saheb Phalke Academy legendary artiste award, Sonakshi will get Dada Saheb Academy best debut award at a glittering at Mumbai on May 3," filmmaker Pahlaj Nihlani said. Read on


4:55 pm: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJP led government in Karnataka, saying that the state has become the most corrupt and urged Youth Congress workers to take the lead in eradicating graft from the country.

'Karnataka has become the most corrupt state and it is the common man who suffers due to this,' he said addressing Youth Congress workers in Bijapur. More on this story

4:40 pm: Sri Lanka’s government and cricket board have rejected the BCCI’s request to allow their players to stay on longer in the IPL. Earlier this month, Sri Lanka Cricket asked their national cricketers playing in the IPL to return by May 5th to prepare for the upcoming England tour. This could strain cricketing ties between the two countries. Yahoo! Cricket has the story

4:25 pm: Wow! The UK is mulling a law making spitting in the streets illegal? And sundry people ranging from academics to authors are involved enough to contribute to a long-ish BBC News story on the question? We'd love to see some pol try mooting a similar law in this country -- the first thing that would happen is, his posters would be defaced with multi-hued spittle. The next thing would be him losing his deposit in the elections.

4:20 pm: And now some good news: India's poverty is estimated to have declined to 32 per cent in 2009-10 from 37.2 per cent five years ago, as per preliminary findings of the Planning Commission.

"2009-10 data show a decline in poverty from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 32 per cent in 2009-10 as the per the preliminary data worked out the (Plan panel member) Abhijit Sen," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. Yahoo! India News has the story

4:15 pm: So apparently there was a problem with hosting a post-IPL party last night -- something about licenses and such. Wait -- these are the parties IPL Commissioner Chirayu Amin said would be stopped? And also said, later, that this stoppage, among other things, has contributed to savings of Rs 100 crore?

4:00 pm: Now some tidbits on the on going assembly polls: Congress president Sonia Gandhi alleged that the CPI(M)-led Left Front government was siphoning off central funds and had turned West Bengal into a bankrupt state. As if we did not know of it.

"In the last 34 years, crores of rupees have been given to West Bengal by the Centre for development, but the state remains backward. Where have central funds gone? Left Front is responsible for this," Gandhi said. More on Yahoo! India News

3:40 pm: Kingfisher group head Vijay Mallya -- who, on Twitter, uses the handle TheVijayMallya, to differentiate himself from all the other Vijay Mallyas without a capitalized 'The' -- tells us that Chris Gayle of the West Indies has been cleared to join the Royal Challengers, Bangalore. "Its official now....the explosive Chris Gayle is now a part of the RCB squad after receiving clearance from the WICB," says The Vijay Mallya. Gayle will replace the injured Dirk Nannes in a squad that, with three losses and a solitary win to show for five outings (the odd one out is yesterday's home game against the Royals, that got rained out), RCB would have had its name already inscribed in indelible ink on the wooden spoon, but for fierce competition from the Delhi Daredevils, who have three losses and one win from four ties, just pipping RCB to bottom-feeder status on the points table. Chris Gayle -- who on Twitter is @henrygayle -- is preparing, if his last tweet is any indication: "Having curry chicken n White Rice, Watching comedy, Everybody Hates Chris..... Chris u Rock :-)". Chicken curry and comedy seems about right to describe what he is about to get into.

3:25 pm: Later today India time -- more accurately, when it is morning in New York -- prosecution and defense lawyers will present their concluding arguments in the ongoing trial of Raj Rajarathnam, the Sri Lankan-born American who founded the Galleon Group and who, in October 2009, was arrested on charges of insider trading. Here's the story

3:20 pm: Former Indian Revenue Service official BV Kumar, in his book 'The Darker Side of Black Money' that deals with organized crime, drug trafficking, economic crimes and terrorism, says a staggering $462 billion has been moved from India, with $213 billion of that having been moved between 1948-2008. Economic Times has the story

3:00 pm: 57 year old G Deo, a Malaysian resident of Indian origin, walked backwards a distance of 44 km. Don't ask. Here, read the story

2:40 pm: Congratulating ISRO on the successful launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-16, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "The flawless launch of these three satellites has demonstrated yet again the advanced capabilities that the ISRO has mastered in satellite development and launch vehicle technologies."

"I am very happy to learn that the PSLV-C-16 has today successfully launched India's ResourceSat-2 satellite, the joint Indo-Russian YouthSat and Singapore's first satellite X-Sat"



2:33 pm: Okay, back to the IPL: 14 of 18 completed matches have been won by the team chasing, points out former India opener and Yahoo columnist Aakash Chopra in his latest column. So what does that mean? Simply this -- teams have not, thus far, managed to identify the par score for each wicket, and have therefore ended up aiming too high and hitting too low. Aakash looks at this quirk, and what it means to the participating teams. Here, read

2:23 pm: Today is a big day for bail pleas getting rejected. Here's a round-up. First, a Delhi court has rejected the bail pleas of Swan Telecom Director Vinod Goenka, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra, and top officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, in the 2G scam controversy. All five, against whom the CBI has filed charges but who have not been arrested, will now face jail time.

Next up, the Supreme Court has rejected anticipatory bail sought by former test cricketer Jacob Martin, accused of being allegedly involved in human trafficking. Martin, the Baroda-born right hand batsman and leg break bowler who appeared in 10 ODIs for India, appears to have miffed the Supremes big time, judging by their acerbic comments. Justice Harjit Singh Bedi and Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, while rejecting the plea, said: 'You are a cricketer. You take cricket teams for trafficking.'

2: 18 pm: The Ministry of External Affairs appears to be talking in tongues. Our 11.20 am update told you that per Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna, now currently in Nepal, the decision on resuming cricket ties with Pakistan has been left entirely to the BCCI, right? So here's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, the senior-most bureaucrat in Krishna's ministry, tweeting that no decision has been taken either way. "Hv been asked abt "resumption" of cricket ties with Pak. Want to clarify no such decision, although sporting contacts may be encouraged," Rao posts. Make of it what you will.

2:15 pm: For the BCCI, the IPL may well be the crown jewel, but for players the priority remains making it to the national team. So much so, Robin Uthappa -- one of the many 'discards' who comprise the footnotes of Indian cricket -- is willing to give up his funky hairstyles, and even his $2.1 IPL paycheck, if it means he can make a comeback to national duty. Reuters has the story

2:10 pm: When the Mangalore plane crash happened, Karnataka CM said the firefighters will be suitably rewarded. 11 months after the crash, the firemen finally get the "reward"- all of Rs 100! IBN has filed this story


2:06 pm: India's favorite pizza toppings are pickled ginger, minced mutton and tofu? Really? Americans eat 350 slices of pizza every second? Again -- really? Here's an infographic packed with all kinds of stuff you never wanted to know about the world's favorite fast food

1: 57 pm: The problem with our country, not just on the corruption front but in pretty much every walk of life, is not so much a lack of laws, as a lack of the will to enforce the laws we do have. Consider for instance this Times of India story, which points out that despite all the good intentions, doctors who illegally help families determine the sex of their babies don't get due punishment. The story points out that 805 cases have been registered (and that has to be a number far below the actuals), and only 55 convictions have resulted. Analogous, really, to this story we had earlier published, about how many cases of corruption are charged, and how few are actually prosecuted.

1:55 pm: Even as the CD controversy continues to make headlines, the Bushans -- part of Anna Hazare's drafting committee for the new anti-corruption bill -- find themselves in the midst of another controversy, this one swirling around the allotment to them, by the Mayawati government, of prime plots for a fraction of the actual value. Indian Express has the story

12: 35 pm: Oops -- it turns out the BCCI cannot always get everything it wants. The Sri Lankan cricket board has turned down the Indian board's request to permit Sri Lankan cricketers, currently turning out for various teams in the IPL, to continue. Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and the SLC have, after internal discussions, stuck with its earlier stand, and ordered all its players -- including stars of the order of past captains Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, incumbent skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Mumbai Indians spearhead Lasith Malinga, to return by May 5, to prepare for an England tour that begins May 10. The decision will hurt on two fronts: the BCCI's ego, and the on-field performances of various teams that rely heavily on the Lankan stars.

12: 28 pm: After targeting the Indian IT sector, Obama now focuses on the Indian healthcare sector. He told college students in Virgina, "My preference would be that you don't have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap health care. I'd like you to be able to get it right here in the United States of America that's high quality".

12: 22 pm: A generation or so ago, those who invested in the "markets" were a rarity, a strange breed the rest of us looked on with a mix of envy and awe. With the "economic boom" that's been sweeping the country these past few years, that has changed -- we know for instance of one 18-year-old college girl who trades daily, and whose goal is to make Rs 20,000 each day. She boots up her laptop, begins buying and selling, and stops as soon as she hits that predetermined amount. But for every such "success story", there are a hundred tales of those who have been suckered in, and by, the markets. Our columnist Deepak Shenoy lists the five ways in which you are most likely to be taken for a ride -- a must read for all of us itching to "get into the markets".

12:19 pm: The Niira Radia expose, and particularly the transcripts of conversations the lobbyist had with big-ticket journalists such as Vir Sanghvi (Full transcripts) and Barkha Dutt (Transcript -- scroll through the list below it for more) first brought to light the possibility that journalists who make a living railing about corruption are not themselves immune. Now comes a truly startling document from the Press Council of India, that itemizes the many ways journalists are "bought". From foreign travel and free shares to the allocation of jobs for relatives and land/housing for the journalists, it's all there in great detail. This link comes courtesy of Outlook's assistant editor Saikat Datta (@saikatd on Twitter, if you want to touch base with him on this), who has made it a kind of personal crusade to bring to light the favors journalists are being given by the powers that be. Watch this space -- this particular item of news is sure to hot up in coming weeks.

12:02 pm: So we just got done telling you (11.20 am update) of the political kerfluffle surrounding the possible resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan, yeah? Tangentially related, is the case of former Pakistan wicketkeeper  Zulqarnain Haider, who tells NDTV that after what happened with him, no cricketer will feel comfortable about reporting match fixing attempts to the authorities.

Long story short, the talented young wicketkeeper-batsman had, in November last year, walked out of a one-day game in Abu Dhabi, citing match fixing attempts. Per reports, that walk out led to threats against him and various family members, causing him to escape to England where he initially sought asylum, before withdrawing the application earlier this month. "My family has had to endure a lot of problems just because I spoke out against corruption. Every time I spoke out against fixing in cricket, there would be threatening calls made to my family in Pakistan and that meant that I couldn't provide the Pakistan Cricket Board or the ICC with the full information that I wanted to give them," Zulquarnain is quoted as saying. "The whole experience over the past few months since I walked out on the Pakistan team in the UAE has been a real eye opener for me. I have learnt a lot from the experience. The hardest thing for me to grasp is that problems are created for you and family if you speak out against those who are corrupt."

11: 43 am: There's more trouble for Hasan Ali. Times Now is saying the Enforcement Directorate is probing his alleged links with terrorists.


11: 34 am:The next cricketing star in the making- Praston Lee. Seen here with his father Brett during KKR's net session in Kolkata. Our in-house movie junkie Maya has a take on it.

11: 20 am: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said the resumption of cricket tours between India and Pakistan is entirely the call for the Board of Control for Cricket in India to make -- a faintly surprising assertion, as the decision to play, or stop playing, cricket with Pakistan has always been taken keeping the government's views in mind. In any case, with Krishna having given the BCCI a green light, stand by for a glut of Indo-Pak cricket just as soon as the BCCI can manage to squeeze them in. Meanwhile, the prospect of resumption of cricket ties between the two countries has already triggered a political war between the government and the opposition BJP.

The NDTV report quotes BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar as saying: "This is a chance to establish the role of the Pakistani establishment in planning and executing the terror strike in Mumbai at an international level. Instead of doing that, our foreign minister is busy promoting peace talks and cricket matches." He said the party was not against people-to-people contact or resuming cricketing ties, but this was not the time for it.

In return, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari is quoted as saying: "I will not react to the foreign minister's statement. I have neither seen it nor heard it. But I am surprised at the BJP's response. What were (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and (Pervez) Musharraf doing after the Parliament attack? What was the BJP government doing after the Kargil war? Look at you own track record before you criticise others." It was at the then PM Vajpayee's initiative that the Indian cricket team visited Pakistan in March 2004 after five long years.

We don't know just when India and Pakistan will start playing cricket again, but while we wait, this Congress-BJP mini-match promises to provide a considerable degree of fun. Watch this space.